In short order, the absence of Consumer Protection Legislation in Dominica will be a thing of the past, Director of Trade Matthan Walter has said.

Late last week experts from the CARICOM Secretariat and stakeholders from the Private sector engaged for a one day consultation on the Consumer Protection Bill of 2015 at the Garraway Hotel.

According to Walter the absence of such legislation has its downside.

“The lack of Consumer Protection Legislation has its ill effects; this needs to be corrected and exigently so,” he said at the opening of the consultation. “In the absence of the required legislation this Ministry has been challenged with complaints ranging from warranties, substandard goods, false/misleading advertisements and non-refunds on returnable items.”

He continued, “Nevertheless, a new era is being born and in the short-term the landscape for consumer protection will be changed by the enactment of the Consumer Protection Bill into law. This Bill at this stage is very comprehensive and appears, de jure, to house provisions tailored to suit and address almost every possibility and eventuality.”

Some of the areas that the Bill will address include: the establishment of a Consumer Affairs Commission, Consumer Rights, Duties of Suppliers, Unfair Trading Practices, Consumer Safety, Recall of Goods, and Distance Selling, the establishment of a Rapid Alert System and Consumer Agreements, among others.

“The signs that are placed on business places with the words, “No Refund” may soon be a thing of the past,” Walter stated.

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